The Journey of Indris
The Journey of Indris
A long time ago, when the world was still new, the legends say that the Aerlan lived beneath the frigid surface of the northern Snowy Wastes. How they came to live in the dark caverns under the earth is a story for another time. This is the story of one journey. A journey that brought the Aerlan into the Great Light.
Her name was Indris, and she was a minor priestess of a chaotic goddess. She would have been easy to over-look, but Indris was known for interpreting dreams and conversing with the spirits. Faithful but not fanatic, Indris lived alone, as was tradition for such a seeress, so others would not distract her from her duty.
One day the world turned violent and changed the underground realm of the Aerlan forever. Strange tremors shook the caverns. Waters streams became poisoned with red rust. Once temperate pools grew vicious and unpredictable, sending scalding water out of the ground in waves. Heavy clouds of tasteless and odorless gas seeped from cracks in the cavern walls, poisoning the air.
The leaders of the Aerlan went to their High Priestess, but her goddess was silent. Their prayers went unanswered. Frantically, they prayed to the minor demons that controlled the pools and the water streams, but to no avail. Desperate, they came to the Seeress Indris to ask her why the world was angry. How must they appease their god? Why did the goddess not answer? Why had the demons fled? Was the world dying? As a seer and dreamer of dreams, surely Indris would know.
“I cannot believe An-Diadh has turned her face. But I have no answer for why the world trembles. Will you give me one night to dream on it?”
The leaders agreed, and that night Indris prepared herself to dream. She stood alone next to her banked fire and removed her outer garments. Wrapped in only her pale skin and long silken white tresses, she sat next to the fire and closed her eyes.
In her dream, Indris saw a great black beast pad closer to the fire. The obsidian wolf settled back on his haunches and regarded her with eyes of gold.
“What are you?” Indris asked. This sudden appearance startled her, but she was not frightened.
“I am Valadin,” the wolf said. “We were once as the Aerlan. We were the hunters who followed the wolves on the surface, shared their prey, and brought back food for the people. But we grew restless and turned our face from home. We grew to love the hunt and the surface more than the caverns. So, we howled to the starlit skies to let us remain on the surface with our brethren. The Queen of Night answered our prayers. With moonlight and star fire, she led us far away to the sacred grove. She showed us a fount of icy silver that would transfigure all.”
Indris watched in amazement as the obsidian wolf turned himself into a handsome young Aerlan male. Unlike the pale Aerlan she knew, his hair was blue-black and his skin a dusty grey. Mesmerized, she listened as he continued his tale. The wolves soon found that they could not breed among themselves. But must return to the depths of the caverns to lie with Aerlan. They must then take the children and bath them in the silver fount once, early in life, else their wolf selves would fade and die away.
He moved around the fire and raised Indris to her feet. She awoke from her dreaming to stand next to him in truth. As he pulled her close, Indris stared back into his golden eyes.
“I have come for you,” he said in a low, seductive tone. “I have watched you from afar, living this lonely life. I want you to come with me when the pack runs. I will carry you on my back to the well. There you may bathe in its spray and become like me. And run with me forever under the moonlight.”
Drawn in by the desire in his eye, her lips parted softly. But Indris remembered her duty to her people. She stepped back a half step, his hands still on her upper arms.
“I… I cannot. My people need me. There have been changes in the earth, great geysers of fire and smoke. My people will perish if I do not help them.”
“The Voice of Fire released the lava to turn the earth. My pack knows this and plans to flee.”
“Turn the earth?” Indris frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
“He is making it new, reshaping it like a valadin skin so that in time it will make him new gems and metal.”
“But my people!” Indris shook off his arms. “How may we live where the earth is changing?”
Valadin moved forward and pulled Indris in his arms again. “Flee with me to the surface, to the far south where the earth is not restless. The journey is dangerous, for you must go through the Burning Caverns and cross the Great Upper Sea. But beyond is a protected valley of dark forests under which you will find shelter and green grass to ease your rest.”
“None may pass so far,” she said. Her eyes were round.
Valadin kissed her softly on one cheek. His lips moved to the soft skin at her temples. He whispered in her ear and his warm breath made the flesh rise on her arms. “The Valadin can pass. You may follow. Your people, too, if they will, for I will lead you.”
Indris leaned into him. Her arms crept around his neck with a will of their own. “Why would you do this?” Indris looked deep into his eyes, and she was lost in their golden depths.
“You.” he stated simply. “You will come with me? If I take your people to a safe land far away from the turning earth, will you come with me and run with the pack?”
Indris's kiss was her answer.
The seeress convinced her people to follow her and the obsidian wolf to the surface. Not all would go, for they were afraid of the light, and about them there are no more tales. But those who followed Indris and the Valadin pack journeyed through the heaving earth until they reached the Burning Caverns. Carefully, the Valadin led them through the hot lands, heaving with lava bursts and searing fire. Once on the other side, they journeyed again for many days in the depths.
Finally, they emerged at the shore of the Great Upper Sea. Where all seemed lost. The earth bridge was below the waves. The Aerlan looked once again to Indris for guidance. She took Valadin aside for advice, so he might change into his Aerlan form.
But Valadin had grave news. “We are too late. Each year, the Voice of Earth sings the land to sleep to lower the bridge so the great waters can pass to the south. It will be Spring before she raises it again.”
“My people will never survive the icy surface. And we cannot return to the shifting caverns. There has to be a way to cross the bridge.” Tears flooded her pale blue eyes and ran down her face.
Valadin pulled her close and stroked her snow-white hair. “We must seek the Voice of Fire. He may persuade her. We will choose the bravest to go with us, both from your people and mine. But it is you who must make the request.”
With a small group of young Aerlan and Valadin, they traveled back to the Burning Caverns. There they found a long, steep corridor that rose high into the mountains. For many days, they climbed. Finally, they entered the realm of the fire-lords and the Circle of Fire. The fire-lords led Indris to the great forge where the Voice of Fire worked to create his diamonds and gold. Indris approached the great fire beast as he pounded on his anvil and the ringing sound filled the hall.
“Lord, I ask a mercy of you,” she shouted, hoping he could hear her. Valadin padded close to her side and her hand clung to his dark fur.
“Who disturbs my work?” the Voice of Fire roared. He reared back, and his monstrous leathery wings brushed the tops of the cavern. “What are you, little one?”
“I am Aerlan, Lord.”
“You are a small, pale thing,” growled the beast, his front paws returning to the stone floor, claws raking deep rivulets. “And yet you walk with a valadin at your side. Strange.”
“Lord, your turning of the earth has forced my people to flee their homeland.”
“I know nothing of that.” The elemental returned to his task. One of his great front paws picked up the enormous hammer once again, while he studied the band of jewels draped over his anvil.
“My Lord,” Indris persisted. “We and the Valadin wish to travel to the surface where your turning will not harm us. We wish to cross the earth bridge. Command the Voice of Earth to raise it so we may pass. This I humbly beg of you.”
The great fire beast shook his massive head. “It is a mighty task, and the Earth can manage it only once every season. Then she must sleep. Nothing may wake her now.”
“Cannot you raise it, Lord?”
The beast raised his paw and fiery liquid dripped from his claws. “Aerlan, if I were to touch it, I would destroy it. As I will you, if you ask another question.”
Shoulders sagging, Indris turned away from the forge. Her people would perish. Never to live beneath the light and the spreading limbs of the dark forest. Indris told her people of their failure and prepared to return to the seashore. But a small group of Aerlan and Valadin refused to go. The might and strength of the fire-lords enamored them, and they wished to become like them. The couple wished them well and led the remains of their group back to the Great Upper Sea. As they neared the waves, the people gathered around Indris, eager for news. Unable to face them, she sobbed. She fell to her knees next to Valadin and buried her face in his fur. The wolf shifted to his Aerlan form and encircled her in his arms.
As they knelt in their misery, a sleek, dark sea creature rose from the waves. Moving through the surf, she shed her furred skin like a lover approaching the bridal bed. A beautiful maiden with hair like the flowing ocean, skin like clear tropical water, and a glittering shell-encrusted gown strode through the waves and approached the couple.
“Do not cry, my child. I have seen your suffering and I will help you.”
“You are the Voice of the Sea?” Indris asked, knowing it to be true. She and Valadin stood, still clinging to each other. “You can raise the land bridge?”
“No,” said the sea maid. “But I can sing the waters away from the land. It will only last for an hour’s time, but this will allow your people to cross.”
“Thank you,” Indris smiled happily through her tears. “You have saved us. How can we repay you for your kindness? Ask of us anything that you will.”
“I need nothing,” the maid replied. “If only I had your courage. Your love moves me, young Aerlan. I love the Voice of Fire. Each night I stand on the shore and sing to him high in the mountains.” She sighed. “But he will not come to me. He says I long to quench and devour him. That is not so. It is he who would consume me in a flash should we ever come together. But you and this valadin have succeeded where I have failed. You give me hope I may one day know such a moment of happiness.”
The sea maid led them back to where the earth bridge lay just under the waves. As she sang, the waters fell back from the land. Most of the Aerlan and Valadin hurried across the sand, waves lapping at their feet. But again, there was a small group who begged to return to the ocean with the sea maid. The maiden agreed she would take these to her ocean home. Indris kissed her people goodbye, and she and Valadin crossed to join the others.
With no more adventures, the group of Aerlan and Valadin soon reached the promised valley to the south. The Aerlan felt at peace under the dark sheltering canopy of the green forest. As the golden light of the full moon fell on them, the remaining Valadin shifted from their wolf forms. Having shared such a harrowing journey, they vowed to stay with their newfound kindred.
As the two groups became one, a whispered voice sang to them through the trees.
“Welcome children. This is your rightful place in the Realm of the Green Wood. In peace, you are one and free to live beneath the sun again, here where trees and flowers grow.”
The people called themselves Aerlanni, or the Aerlan Reborn, and fell in love with their new home. At first, they shunned the light of day for the gloom of night that was so like their lost caverns. But soon they grew to love the world of the sun. As for Indris, for her courage and bravery, Valadin led her to the hidden grove of the silver fount. There she bathed and the magical water instantly transformed her into a beautiful snow-white she-wolf.
To this day, legend says that there are creatures that can take any shape they desire and walk among us.
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© 1985 Meredith Ann Pierce